FINAL CALL TO COMMENT – NQF HEART FAILURE MEASURE

Dear Heart Failure Stakeholder –

Today is the deadline for submitting comments in support of the National Minority Quality Forum’s (NMQF) recently submitted proposed quality measure for African Americans with heart failure to the National Quality Forum (NQF). We are calling on individuals and organizations who are committed to the fight against health disparities to express their support. Already, the NQF has heard from representatives of the NAACP, the Association of Black Cardiologists, the Health Leadership Council and professors at Stanford and Harvard Universities, among others … will you join them?

NQF’s decision on whether or not to move forward with the proposed measure will depend largely on the comments they receive from the public.

To comment on the proposed quality measure, please follow these steps:

b. Activate your account by following the link included in the confirmation email provided by NQF

c. Select a username and password, then click submit

Click here to log in to NQFs online comment portal for cardiovascular measures

a. Log in using your NQF username and password

b. Identify the comment titled NQF# 2764 – Fixed-dose Combination of Hydralazine and Isosorbide Dinitrate Therapy for Self-identified Black or African American Patients with Heart Failure and LVEF <40% on ACEI or ARB and Beta-blocker Therapy

i. This is the last entry on pg. 3 of the cardiovascular measures

Click ‘Comment’ to open the submission window for the relevant heart failure quality measure

a. Enter the text of your submission in the comment window

b. At the bottom of the submission form, click ‘Submit Comment’

And to make it as simple as possible for you to engage in the process, we’ve provided the following draft comment that you can feel free to “cut and paste” into the provided text box (and hopefully personalize) once you’re logged into NQF’s comment portal:

I am writing in support of a proposed quality measure that has the potential to save thousands of lives annually by highlighting a preventable treatment deficiency, namely, the National Minority Quality Forum’s submission (# 2764) regarding a fixed-dose Combination of Hydralazine and Isosorbide Dinitrate Therapy for Self-identified Black or African American Patients with Heart Failure (HF) and LVEF <40% on ACEI or ARB and Beta-blocker Therapy.

Today, less than 10% of eligible heart failure patients are being prescribed an FDA-approved treatment that’s been proven to significantly reduce hospitalization and mortality rates. That’s why I’m writing in support of the measure submitted by the National Minority Quality Forum (NMQF) that strongly encourages healthcare providers to ensure that eligible African American patients with heart disease receive the proper course of treatment.

The science behind the impact of this FDA-approved drug has been well documented. Its benefits have been published in the New England Journal of Medicine and other peer-reviewed sources, and the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association have released detailed practice guidelines calling for this specific treatment protocol.

Nonetheless, while published studies estimate that there are over 150,000 African Americans living in America who could benefit from this treatment, only 7% (or 11,000) of them are receiving it. As a consequence, experts have estimated that 6,655 blacks die prematurely every year.

An endorsement from the National Quality Forum (NQF) is considered the highest standard for healthcare quality, and sends a strong message to providers that measures are evidence-based, valid, and can help patients achieve better outcomes. I strongly believe that the proposed heart failure measure meets NQF’s criteria, and encourage you to provide your formal endorsement in order to help facilitate widespread adoption of this treatment.

I appreciate the opportunity to weigh in on this important issue, and urge NQF to approve this quality measure submission.

Thank you for your taking the time to participate in this important process!